Welcome to The Daily Merengue — a place where you can feel free to discuss all things football. Do not be alarmed by the overt RMCF bias. It’s in the name!
Shoutout to the Mods who do a fantastic job, Valyrian Steel, Ezek XI, KungFuZizou, NeRObutBlanco, Felipejack, and Juninho.
Vini dances the team to victory. IMO, This game represented more than just RO16 qualification, it stands as a small testament against those that choose to leave football, then cover their mouths, tuck their tail in between their legs and go the route of cowards. I’m amazed that UEFA took swift action to ban pestrami from the match, this is a good step in the right direction. Cuz these governing bodies usually take their time to figure things out. Benfica winning and progressing wouldn’t have been good for football. I’m very happy we won and even happier with Vini dancing by the flag again after scoring a sweet goal. EA should replicate that celebration the “Dancing Flag” for EAFC 27. I digress.
We almost threw this match from the first 10 minutes. A **chronic problem this team has always had, it’s inability to show consistent ability.** Plenty close calls and luckily averted disasters with super Courtios to the rescue. I’m going to boldly say Courtios has been hands down, our best and most in form player this season, rarely a bad game from him. Mbappe and Vini may carry the headlines when they score and the team wins, but courtios is the one constantly drawing the line between embarrassing defeat and safe victory. Even when we lose, it ain’t because of TBO. If we somehow win the CL this year, he should get the BD’OR.
It seems Arbeloa let them invade each others space. Asencio picked up a card for an unnecessary foul high up the pitch, the second time he’d go that far up the pitch for the ball would be his last. He’d leave the pitch in a stretcher. **This game was prime example of why our players need defined roles on the pitch with positional discipline and awareness**. It’s been said here many times before. The first benfica goal was a positional disaster-class from both carerras and Cama and our CB’s disorganized out of position on the cross with asencio almost scoring an own goal off his deflection attempt. Courtios has to save against both the enemy and his friends, leaving him stranded. **You can’t successfully be a Real Madrid keeper without trust issues**. Not having trust in your back-line will help any real madrid keeper better prepare for games because your defense can also be your #1 enemy at times.
Positional discipline could’ve helped avoid such a nasty moment. It was scary watching asencio’s body stuttering for air on the ground on my TV. On a side note, I will chuck all of ascensio’s diabolical errors this season to youth, the foot fracture he’s dealing with and the court case looming over his head. Wishing him a Speedy recovery. And they need to run some tests on Cama too, he also had a nasty fall from that collision.
All i ask from these players is “DON’T PLAY WITH MY CLUB’S SEASON”. Play with your brands on IG, play with your hair, dye it blonde or pink, but don’t play with the season.